Productivity

Business travel is all about productivity — whether that relates to its fundamental use for more efficient collaboration, guarding against bureaucracy to ensure seamless collaboration, or generally purchasing the right services at the right prices so trip missions deliver the most value. It also means helping employees avoid getting bogged down in post-trip red tape. The coverage below digs into issues, processes, tools and tricks.

Some examples
• The movement of services to mobile devices and/or chatbots
• Stories about expedited airport screening and business travel’s ROI
• Trends like artificial intelligence and rewards
• The pandemic-era struggle to avoid quarantines

Squeezed By Some Airlines, Flight Centre Tweaks Tech To Support Others

How much more can a travel management company make when corporate customers use its proprietary booking technology? Flight Centre Travel Group’s head of corporate travel wouldn’t specifically say, but his answer during a Tuesday evening conference call with equities analysts was instructive. With its own tools, the TMC has to cover maintenance and development costs….

Automation Central To CTM Plan For Doubled Profits In Five Years

Execs from travel management company Corporate Travel Management on Tuesday outlined a five-year goal of doubling profits thanks to productivity gains and 10 percent annual organic revenue growth. The guidance doesn’t account for any acquisitions — a “significant opportunity” for which CTM is “well-positioned” as industry consolidation is “really likely,” according to managing director Jamie…

Southwest Aims To Soothe A Corporate Travel Headache: Changes

Due out this spring, the Southwest Business TravelTrack service aims to mitigate a growing challenge for corporate travel programs — missing data from changed itineraries. Bookings originally made through online booking tools and global distribution systems, as supported by travel management companies, often end up getting changed directly with airlines when flights are disrupted. Those…

In Two Big Travel Management Company Accessibility Programs, No Extra Charge

Serving people with disabilities may cost more for travel management companies, but two big ones said clients won’t be asked to cover that. CWT is poised to unveil a new accessibility program. American Express Global Business Travel announced one in December. Amex GBT director of global VIP strategy Penny Clauson runs her company’s service, which…

Dispatch 9

Reaction: Responding to Scott Gillespie’s Op Ed on how today’s corporate travel market demands “long-sighted travel policies” prioritizing value and sustainability over traditional cost-cutting, readers generally agreed with the need for change. Microsoft’s Eric Bailey echoed the goal of reducing emissions and minimizing low-value trips but suggested different methods. He recommended carbon taxes and budget…

New Emburse CEO Aims To Double Revenue

Emburse has a new CEO and an ambitious goal. Owned by private equity firm K1 Investment Management, the purveyor of expense and travel management products by Chrome River, Tripbam, the former Roadmap and other brands, on Monday announced that longtime technology industry leader Marne Martin replaced Eric Friedrichsen as CEO.  Friedrichsen became a board member….

Op Ed: Brandon Strauss On A Skeptic’s View Of Generative Artificial Intelligence 

Brandon Strauss of CapTrav and KesselRun Corporate Travel Solutions explains why he’s in “watch and learn” mode when it comes to generative artificial intelligence.  Claude Shannon, a computer scientist and founder of information theory, published “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” in 1948, which defined how messages are carried from sender to receiver. This theory became…

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